The beloved American dessert, apple pie, is taken to a brand new level by adding sweet caramel sauce. You will love the combination of the soft, buttery, flaky homemade pie crust and caramel coated apples. A perfect, delicious Autumnal dessert!
Caramel apple pie
Is there a more perfect pairing than apples and caramel? I’ve made toffee apple crumble and caramel apple cheesecake bars, but this was my first time adding caramel to an apple pie.
If you like apples and caramel together, you need to give this recipe a try. Add a scoop of ice cream, drizzle with more caramel sauce and you’ve got your perfect dessert right there. Heaven!
This pie is made up of three components:
- homemade all butter pie crust
- Sweet, soft cinnamon-spiced apples
- caramel sauce
I’ve kept things nice and simple by using a store bought caramel sauce for this pie. If you have a homemade caramel sauce recipe you love, then of course feel free to use that instead. If you’re looking for a great caramel sauce, I love this recipe from Felicity Cloake.
how to make it
Scroll to the bottom of the post to find a printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Step one – the pie dough
Place the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Add the very cold butter cubes to the bowl. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have a rough, pebbly mixture like the photo below.
Tip the mixture out onto a work surface and bring the dough together with your hands, kneading it very lightly. If lots of dry pieces of dough remain, add a few drops of water, just a little at a time. Cut the dough into two equal pieces, wrap them in cling film and transfer to the fridge to rest for about one hour.
Step two – prepare the apples
Place the peeled and sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the ground cinnamon, sugar, salt and cornflour. Stir well to combine, making sure the apples are well coated in the mixture.
Step three – assemble the pie
Roll out one half of the dough on a lightly floured work surface a little larger than your pie plate. Line the pie plate with the dough.
Spoon the apples into the pie plate, pressing them down to avoid gaps in the filling when you cut into the pie. It will look like far too many apples, but don’t worry. You need lots as they will shrink a little as the pie bakes.
Drizzle the caramel sauce as evenly as you can over the apples, trying to make sure you don’t get the sauce near the edge of the pie plate.
Lightly brush the edge of the pie dough with beaten egg.
Roll out the second piece of dough, making sure it is about one inch larger than the pie plate. Using the rolling pin, lift up the rolled dough and place it over the apples. Press firmly all around the edge of the pie plate to seal the edges. Trim any excess dough. It should be sitting flush with the edge of the plate.
Crimp the dough with your fingers or a fork. Transfer the pie to the fridge or freezer. Preheat the oven to 200C/180Fan/400F and place a large baking sheet on the middle shelf.
step four – time to bake
When you’re ready to bake, remove the pie from the fridge or freezer. Using a very sharp knife, cut a few slits in the lid to allow steam to escape.
Brush the pie all over with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Place the pie on the preheated baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, then turn down the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F and bake for a further 30-35 minutes or until the pie crust is golden, crisp and the juices are visibly bubbling.
commonly asked questions
No, pre-baking the pie crust is not necessary when making apple pie because the filling is not “wet”, like a lemon tart or pumpkin pie, for example.
Yes! Apple pie can be prepared ahead of time, but don’t add the egg wash until you are ready to bake. Make the pie, then store it in the fridge for up to three days. Alternatively, the pie can be frozen for up to two months.
more easy pie recipes
Looking for more recipes to use up apples?
Caramel Apple Pie
Caramel Apple Pie! A deliciously sweet twist on a classic apple pie recipe. Caramel-coated baked apples encased in a buttery, flaky, homemade pie crust. Serve with ice cream or custard for a delicious, warming Autumn dessert.
Ingredients
- FOR THE PIE CRUST
- 300g (2 cups) plain (all purpose) flour
- 1 teaspoon fine salt (not sea salt flakes)
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 175g (6oz) very cold butter, diced
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or another tbsp of iced water)
- 4-5 tablespoons iced water
FOR THE APPLES
- 850g apples, peeled, cored and sliced. I use half cooking (bramley) apples and half eating apples such as Gala or Braeburn
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
- 100g (1/2 cup) soft light brown sugar (if you're not using cooking apples reduce to 50g)
- 80ml (1/3 cup) store bought caramel sauce
New Group
- FINISHING TOUCHES
- 1 beaten egg, to fix the bottom and top parts of the pie crust together AND to glaze the top of the pie
- 1 tablespoon demerara or caster sugar
- Extra caramel sauce for drizzling over the pie, optional
Instructions
- Start by making the pie crust. If you're using a store bought crust, you're way ahead of the game already. Place the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the very cold butter cubes to the bowl. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have a rough, pebbly mixture. Some small chunks of butter should still be visible - this is what will make the pie crust nice and flaky.
- Add the cider vinegar and 4 tablespoons of the iced water. Using your hands, start to combine everything together until you start to see a rough, shaggy dough. It will not be smooth and nor it should be.
- Tip the mixture out onto a work surface and bring the dough together with your hands, kneading it very lightly. If lots of dry pieces of dough remain, add a few drops of water, just a little at a time. The dough should be soft and moist but not sticky.
- Cut the dough in half, wrap the two pieces in cling film and transfer to the fridge to rest for about one hour.
- Once the pie dough is nice and chilled, roll out one half of the dough on a lightly floured work surface a little larger than your 9 inch pie plate.
- Line the pie plate with the dough, then transfer to the fridge while you prep the apples.
- Place the peeled and sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the ground cinnamon, sugar, salt and cornflour. Stir well to combine, making sure the apples are well coated in the mixture.
- Remove the pie plate from the fridge. Spoon the apples into the pie plate, pressing them down to avoid gaps in the filling when you cut into the pie. It will look like far too many apples, but pile them high!
- Drizzle the caramel sauce as evenly as you can over the apples, making sure you don't get the sauce near the edge of the pie plate.
- Lightly brush the edge of the pie dough with the beaten egg to secure the top and bottom part of the dough together.
- Roll out the second piece of dough, making sure it is about one inch larger than the pie plate. Using the rolling pin, lift up the rolled dough and place it over the apples. Press firmly all around the edge of the pie plate to seal the edges. Using a sharp knife or scissors, trim any excess dough. It ideally should be sitting flush with the edge of the plate.
- Crimp the dough with your fingers or a fork, then transfer the pie to the fridge or freezer. Preheat the oven to 200C/180Fan/400F. and place a large baking sheet on the middle shelf.
- When you're ready to bake, remove the pie from the fridge or freezer. Using a very sharp knife, cut a few slits in the lid to allow steam to escape.
- Brush the pie all over with beaten egg and sprinkle the top with sugar. Place the pie on the preheated baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, then turn down the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F and bake for a further 30-35 minutes or until the pie crust is golden, crisp and the juices are visibly bubbling. If your pie was completely frozen, it might need up to 1 1/2 hours to fully bake. If the edge of the pie crust is beginning to turn too brown during baking, cover it with a long piece of tin foil.
- If you can bear it, allow the pie to cool down and set for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving with ice cream or custard.
Notes
If you are using eating apples to make this pie, cut the sugar to 50g.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 416Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 697mgCarbohydrates: 65gFiber: 5gSugar: 34gProtein: 4g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.